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Like you, I am programmer, interrupted. Unfortunately, our understanding of interruption and remedies for them are not too far from homeopathic cures and bloodletting leeches. But what is the evidence and what can we do about it? Every few months I still see programmers who are asked to not use headphones during work hours or are interrupted by meetings too frequently but have little defense against these claims. I also fear our declining ability to handle these mental workloads and interruptions as we age.

Work related interruptions, I can deal with...it's part of the job. The frequency of work related interruptions, for me, has remained fairly steady through the years. However, the frequency of non-work related interruptions (ocurring during working hours) has gone through the roof all due to one device...the cell phone. (leash) There used to be a rule about not calling people at work unless it was an emergency. That rule seems to no longer apply...it's not like they are calling your work number right?..and everything is an emergency.

Only a handful of people outside of work that I trust implicitly not to call for anything that can wait have my deskphone number (in a real emergency the rest could Google the main number and get forwarded by the receptionist). So far all the people in the know have honored my trust; the least important thing I've been called about in the not quite eight years I've spent in this job was someone being in the ER and scheduled for an appendectomy a few hours later.

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?--Zachris Topelius

Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.-- Sarah Hoyt

I would love to do that but my cell phone is paid for by the company. The worst offenders (calling during work hours) are retired in-laws. My father in-law calls constantly for petty crap like how to change the input oh his TV to watch a DVD, or like yesterday when he couldn't find the right channel for a basketball game. I looked it up and told him the channel to punch in the remote at which point he starts pushing the numbers on the phone! While I am trying to get him to stop pushing the buttons on the phone, I can hear him in the background cursing that 'the damned thing still doesn't work!'. It was a big laugh when he realized what he was doing.

I'd probably insist on a separate number in that case and "forget" that phone in the office almost as often as I "forget" my personal phone at home.

All sarcasm aside I actually do legitmately forget my phone almost half the time I intend to drag it with me.

Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?--Zachris Topelius

Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.-- Sarah Hoyt